Opponents of Dawes County Commissioner District 2 Vic Rivera fell well short of forcing him to face a recall election, collecting only about a third of the required signatures.
Thursday was the deadline for Taylor Wohlers of rural Crawford to submit the recall petitions he’d been circulating for the past 30 days, and County Clerk Cheryl Feist says they came in a little more than an hour before the deadline.
The problem: Wohlers needed the signatures of at least 207 registered voters in District 2, but Feist says the petitions had only 71 – ending the recall effort.
The required 207 signatures was 35% of Rivera’s winning total last November, when he was unopposed for a third term after beating Travis Nitsch in the Republican primary.
Wohlers’ petition said Rivera should be removed from office for “mismanagement of operations of District 2, interfering with relationships with present and past employees, and dereliction of duties.
Rivera called the allegations “false and unfounded,” adding that it’s apparent his critics do not”have an understanding of the actual duties of the commissioners.”